Tag Archives: Sanctions

Sanctions against Iran are making their impact, on the innocent working-class people of Iran–and the destruction of the currency may be getting a boost from the CIA.

International trade is dying and the currency is in free fall. It fell 17% this morning. The rial has lost more than 80 percent of its value since the start of the year.

I am also hearing that the CIA may be pumping newly (CIA printed) rial into the country in an effort to destabilize the country through hyper-inflation. The Fed may think money printing boosts an economy, but the CIA knows what it really does.

AFP reports:

Ordinary Iranians are increasingly struggling with the resulting inflation, which was officially put at 23 percent even before the latest plunge of the rial.

“Prices are rising every day and it just doesn’t stop,” said Khosro, a retiree who gave only his first name. He was forced to work as a taxi driver to boost his diminishing pension, he said.

Even locally made products were becoming more costly in Iran’s supermarkets.

“The price of my toothpaste, a foreign brand, has tripled in just a few months. Now, I’m buying an Iranian one, but it has also nearly doubled in price,” said Maryam, a young shopper.

Finally a good laugh in the news again today. It would seem that US led sanctions on Iran extend to Azeroth. This is funny and slightly ironic to me, as I believe WoW’s only accomplishment is distracting a generation from important social issues. Perhaps with their WoW accounts locked some of these Iranians will spend their time doing something more constructive, like produce a popular piece of art that will attract attention to their nation and highlight average Iranian life. This would be a fantastic development as it would give us all something to use in order to compare the state of Iran pre- and post shelling. It must be said that sanctions are actually tremendously damaging themsleves, hurting the sick, poor, and hungry civilians more than government or industry. Extending sanctions to gaming trivializes the process – a process that is inherently evil. Iran will be alright though because in an interconnected digital world – with Bitcoins to spend – we are no longer bound by the will of our national governments, and individuals can actually make a real difference. On a related note – there are some really fantastic looking and affordable holiday plans in Iran, which could be another great way of encountering their culture before the place is blown up.